(ZMEScience) - Ava Winery, a start-up based in San Francisco, wants to let you enjoy the best of wines for a fraction of their current cost. To this end, they’ll bypass the costly growing and fermentation processes; in fact, they won’t use grapes at all. Their wines will be synthetically produced, by combining aromatic compounds with ethanol.

Mardonn Chua and Alec Lee got the idea in 2015, while visiting a Napa Valley winery. They were shown the bottle of a historic wine for US wineries — a Chateau Montelena, the first Californian Chardonnay rated above its French contenders, at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976.

“I was transfixed by this bottle displayed on the wall,” says Chua. “I could never afford a bottle like this, I could never enjoy it. That got me thinking.”

Chua started experimenting with ethanol and fruity flavor compounds such as ethyl hexanoate in an attempt to recreate the experience of a quality wine. His first attempts were anything but, Chua himself describing them as “monstrous.” After six months of research however, they now believe they have produced a synthetic wine that can rival a traditionally-produced Italian white Moscato d’Asti sparkling wine. They’re now working on a Dom Pérignon mimic, and will begin shipping of the initial batch of 499 bottles for US$ 50 each later this summer.

An issue of taste

Wine is a very complex chemical solution. It can contain upwards of one thousand different chemical compounds, all working together to give wine its unique flavor. And, even though people have been enjoying this drink since antiquity, we still don’t really know which of these components contribute the most to wine’s taste and finish. The sheer number of different substances and substance interactions makes pinpointing flavor-driving molecules a crucial, but daunting task — like tasting a needle out of a haystack.

The team used gas chromatography, mass spectrometery and other methods to analyze the chemical make-up of several types of wine, such as Chardonnay, champagne and Pinot Noir. They wanted to identify these molecules — such as esters ethyl isobutyrate and ethyl hexanoate — and each of their concentrations. Then, they mixed them into their mimic wine and had a professional sommelier test the results as they experimented with different proportions of these molecules. The result?

“We can turn water into wine in 15 minutes,” claims Ava